Update from Maya
This week’s memo is a back-to-school special.
Over the summer I went to the archives at the Bishopsgate Institute in the City of London. I delved into the records of 20 years of behind-the-scenes lobbying by organisations such as GIRES, Press for Change, Mermaids and Stonewall as they juggled from transsexuals to transgender to trans, and from adults to children.
On 1st September the Department of Education’s new statutory guidance for schools and colleges in England, Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE), came into effect. It is a significant step in pushing back against these long-embedded language games.
It makes clear that schools must not allow pupils into toilets, changing rooms or residential accommodation designated for the opposite sex and that every child’s sex must be recorded accurately wherever sex is recorded. (Northern Ireland has a short, simple policy to the same effect; Scottish guidance has been updated following For Women Scotland but still has a long way to go; and there is no statutory guidance in Wales.)
Mermaids said of the KCSIE guidance: “Much of the language around trans children… is confusing and contradictory.” It isn’t as long as you recognise that children are boys or girls, and that it is not safe, fair or practical for a school to try to mislead staff or other pupils about what sex any child is.
Mermaids continues to promote the idea that “not all staff and pupils should know about a trans child or young person’s sex assigned at birth”. This attempt to wriggle around the guidance shows why the language needs to be absolutely clear.
At the beginning of the summer the Equality and Human Rights Commission released new draft technical guidance on the Equality Act for schools in England, Scotland and Wales which seems to want to rewind back to the past.
In the EHRC’s world, children are not “gender questioning” but “trans boys” and “trans girls”. A boy’s school might have a policy for admitting “trans boys” (girls), and a mixed school might deem it appropriate for a boy who identifies as a girl to be banished to a teachers’ changing room instead of being included in the boys’ changing room.
This gets the Equality Act backwards. The EHRC draft guidance promotes discrimination by telling schools that it is okay to affirm that children are not welcome in facilities for their own sex because they are perceived to have a protected characteristic.
If you have a child at school in England, you can send your school our model policy, which is in line with KSCIE and the Equality Act.
Your homework this week is to think about responding to the EHRC consultation before the 30th September deadline. You don’t need to be a lawyer, teacher or expert to respond (though all these perspectives are welcome). The EHRC also wants to hear from parents and young people.
Read our analysis of the EHRC technical guidance (and watch this week’s podcast). We will publish more about the consultation next week.
Find out more
EHRC technical schools guidance is not fit for purpose
Analysis of EHRC draft technical guidance for schools
Safeguarding and trans identification in schools
KCSIE and EHRC technical guidance
As the autumn term begins, Maya Forstater and Fiona McAnena discuss statutory safeguarding guidance, as well as draft technical guidance on equality law for schools from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
Disappointingly, the EHRC’s guidance is riddled with serious legal errors. Unless it is significantly revised, it will mislead schools about their legal duties and what they must do in order to treat all pupils fairly and safely.
This draft guidance is open for consultation until Wednesday 30th September. It’s an important opportunity for parents, teachers and others concerned about protecting children from gender ideology to ensure that the equality regulator hears what they have to say.
In other news
“Of course that clinician knew that the patient was a boy.” - Fiona McAnena
Mark McLaughlin • The Sun
Parkrun fury as transgender runners keep winning women’s category
“The message to women and girls is this: your achievements don’t matter. We put these men’s feelings ahead of yours.” - Fiona McAnena
Richard Ashmore • Daily Express
“The law is clear: when a sporting event offers a female category, that is a category for women. It shouldn’t include some men.” - Fiona McAnena
Janet Murray, Nicholas Pyke • Daily Mail
Events
Banned in Belfast? The Free Speech Union and Genspect are discussing conversion therapy, free speech and the new Northern Ireland in Belfast on Friday 25th September. Find out more or buy a ticket now.
The Battle of Ideas Festival is on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October in London. Helen Joyce is speaking on conversion practices on the Sunday. Find out more and book using the code SEXMATTERS26 to get an extra 20% off.
If you’d like this memo in your inbox every Friday at 5pm, join our mailing list now.
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